Oklahoma EduSHARE

KESAM K-8 Mathematics workshops: Summer 2012

Wesley Fryer — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:23:29 +0000

K-8 teachers in Oklahoma are invited to apply to attend the KESAM K-8 Math Workshops for summer 2013. Complete details are available in this PDF.

Innovative Learning Institute in Norman: Nov 6, 2012 #k20ili

Wesley Fryer — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 14:00:30 +0000

If you live in or near Oklahoma City, make plans to attend next Tuesday’s WONDERFUL Innovative Learning Institute in Norman on November 6th. (That’s also ELECTION DAY.) Year in and year out, ILI is always one of the best education, learning, and educational technology conferences available for Oklahoma educators. ILI is sponsored by the K-20 Center at the University of Oklahoma, which (among other things) administers school technology grants and training for the Oklahoma Education Technology Trust.

The keynote speaker for ILI this year is Gary Stager. If you know anything about Gary, you’ll know that he always finds thought provoking ways to challenge his audiences. I’m sure his messages will be great and challenging. Gary has done and continues to do great work with students and teachers around the world, and has a wealth of wisdom as well as helpful experiences to share with educators.

I’ll be sharing a breakout session at ILI this year on “Mapping Media to the Common Core.” I hope to see you there! If you’re going and are on Twitter, please tweet the conference with the hashtag #k20ili.

Oklahoma Fall Social Studies Conference: 28-29 Sept 2012

Wesley Fryer — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:41:20 +0000

The Oklahoma State Social Studies Conference is scheduled for September 28 & 29 at the Moore-Norman Technology Center. Full details and the link to register is available on www.okcss.org/conferences.htm. Plan to attend this GREAT conference if you can!

The call for proposals for breakout sessions has been extended to August 29th, so you still have a few days this week to submit your proposal if you haven’t already. Download the proposal form in MS Word format here.

Oklahoma SDE Providing Funds for 1 Year Common Core Coach Positions

Wesley Fryer — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:21:20 +0000

The Oklahoma State Department of Education has posted a new position on its official jobs website and is looking to hire 60 new employes in this role: REAC3H3 Instructional Coach. (PDF)

Employment for these positions begins 1 July 2012, for a “10.5-month renewable contract based on funding availability” paying $48K per year plus benefits. “Expert knowledge in the use of standardized tests and formative assessment data and their impact on student learning” is third among eight identified “knowledge/skill/abilities” for the position. Individuals must have “Successful full-time public school administration or public school teaching experience” but a minimum number of years of teaching experience is not specified. These SDE employees will be paid by state funds funneled through school districts, but will office out of regional technology centers.

H/T to Tammy Parks for sharing this news following last week’s REAC3H meeting in Tulsa.

“Mapping to the Core” LiveBook with Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Wesley Fryer — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:37:24 +0000

Heidi Hayes Jacobs is well known in the world of K-12 curriculum mapping, and she’s exploring the boundaries of “interactive textbooks” with a new project, “Mapping to the Core” LiveBook and LivePlanner. Educators involved in Common Core State Standards (CCSS) adoption and transitions may be interested in checking this out. Unfortunately Heidi’s website does not disclose a price for this “LiveBook,” instead visitors are encouraged to contact the company for more information.

In addition to offering multimedia within the eBook (images, audio, video, and links) and the opportunity for readers to make personal annotations / notes, “Livebooks” are touted to offer “author interaction,” discussion forums, interactive polls, social media sharing opportunities and the ability to upload personal work samples which can remain private or be shared publicly online. This is similar to the functionality David Warlick described to me last week at the #beyondthetextbook forum in Washington D.C., experimenting with Apple Dashboard Widgets in iBooks Author. Very interesting.

Hat tip to Mary Beth Hertz for sharing this last week from the ASCD conference.

Free K12 Lesson Plans from K20ALT for STEM & More! (Audio Podcast)

Wesley Fryer — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:34:17 +0000

This 11 minute audio podcast is an interview with Adam Zodrow about the amazing lesson plans and free resources available from the K20ALT (Authentic Teaching and Learning) website: http://k20alt.ou.edu. Adam is currently a fulltime librarian in Yukon Public Schools, Oklahoma, but previously worked on staff at the K-20 Center at the University of Oklahoma. His description of the hands-on STEM project K20ALT educators designed and facilitated in Vinita, Oklahoma, is amazing. I highly encourage everyone to check out the videos of that project specifically. It’s not every day you learn about a hands-on STEM project in which students learn how to create electricity from wind energy using a dowel-rod / CD / magnet dynamo built for $15 each. The K20ALT educators are incredibly smart and innovative and they’ve got a ton to teach us. What a bummer the primary funding for this project was cut by Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi in her first state budget of 2011. Hopefully creative souls will find ways to keep the K20ALT lights (and website) shining. There are great resources on their site. Find Adam on Twitter @zodzilla.

Podcast playback / download options:

Direct mp3 link
Play on the “Fuel for Educational Change Agents” podcast
Flash mp3 audio player:

Check out the incredible Interdisciplinary Wind Energy Unit: Sweeping Down the Plains!

Measures of Effective Teaching Project Research

Wesley Fryer — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:12:17 +0000

The Measures of Effective Teaching Project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and is being used as a catalyst (among others) to change teacher evaluation processes in states around the nation. The December 2010 report, “Learning About Teaching: Research Report” (PDF) is the only research published by the group to date. (As of 27 Feb 2012) Everyone interested in TLE in Oklahoma and wanting to better understand not only our current laws but also the research and politics behind “high stakes accountability” should read this report thoroughly. As an example of “common vocabulary” and research everyone connected to TLE should know about, on page 3 of the report the following footnote provides clarification:

The 2009 New Teacher Project study, The Widget Effect, found that evaluation systems with two ratings, “satisfactory” and “unsatisfactory,” 99 percent of teachers earned a satisfactory. In evaluation systems with more than two ratings, 94 percent of teachers received one of the top two ratings and less than one percent were rated unsatisfactory.

Download and read that report on widgeteffect.org.

Notes from 15 Feb 2012 REAC3H Meeting in Yukon

Wesley Fryer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:50:17 +0000

A REAC3H meeting led by Deer Creek Public Schools was held in Yukon on February 15, 2012. The following Google Document includes links to resources shared and discussed at the meeting.

Stay Updated with Email, Twitter, Facebook & RSS

Wesley Fryer — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:58:49 +0000

We’ve added four different ways you can stay updated with new information posted here on Oklahoma EduShare. These are all available in the right sidebar of our website.

1. EMAIL

If you’d like to receive an email message when new content is enter your email address in the right sidebar and click SUBSCRIBE. (This service was activated on February 15th, so it may take 24 hours for it to be available.

2. Twitter

If you’re on Twitter, follow @okedushare to stay updated. Our website posts are configured to automatically post on Twitter.

3. Facebook

If you’re on Facebook, please “like” our Oklahoma EduShare page.

4. RSS

If you use a news reader (RSS reader) like Google Reader, you can subscribe to our site updates.

Remember to also join our Oklahoma CCSS Diigo Group to share links and resources.

@HoweSchools HS School-Wide PBL: Lion Pride Project

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:45:51 +0000

All 147 students at Howe High School in Howe, OK are participating in 10 weeks of school-wide Project Based Learning. Twenty-seven teams of 5-6 students meet each week for 2 hours to create solutions to the challenge “How can I make my school better.” Student teams are mentored by one high school teacher and a community member during the project. Student teams will present their project to a panel of stake-holders in early May, 2012 to vie for a $1,000 budget to implement their solution. Students will be assessed on literacy skills and standards from Common Core. The student teams will use multiple technology tools available on their MacBooks during the project to include Edmodo, Pages, iBook Author, iPads, and data gathering software.

This innovative model of learning breaks the traditional mold of 55 minute class periods, grade-level grouping, and single subject instruction. Students drive the learning process through inquiry and authentic assessment. Howe High School teachers received intensive training during the 2010-11 school year to implement PBL from the premiere experts on this model of learning, The Buck Institute for Education. Join students and staff at Howe High School for a spotlight on the power of experiential, hands-on, student-directed learning.

Web link / URL for more information: http://howep3.ning.com and http://lion-pride.posterous.com/pages/about-project

This post was submitted by Tammy G. Parks.